Eocene Thermal Maximum 3
Hyperthermal event
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ETM3 has been dated to about 52.5 Ma. It is demarcated in the chronostratigraphic record by a marked negative δ13C and δ18O excursion.
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Causes
ETM3 was caused by a massive input of isotopically light carbon into the atmosphere. It has been suggested that methane hydrate reservoirs, recharged over millennia after melting during previous Eocene hyperthermals, were the source of this light carbon during ETM3.
Effects
ETM3, in conjunction with the other hyperthermal events of the Early Eocene, led to the onset of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO), the warmest long-term climatic interval of the Cenozoic. The diversity of benthic foraminifera decreased in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean during ETM3.